I have always believed that anyone can learn to ride and train horses no matter how unconventional the combination. If you come to the party with the right attitude, you will be successful!
Along with my partner Nick Lawson we established Corvedale Equestrian in 2021, offer training, competition livery and rider education for all levels of equestrians.
Luckily, I started my career at The Talland School of Equitation alongside the late Molly Sivewright and Pammy Hutton, here I would get an insight into top dressage and elite training. Upon returning home I set up my first training and livery yard and things built from there.
Learning from the best trainers and competitors in the business from Isobel Wessels, Carl Hester, Peter Storr, Henk van Bergen, Frederick Pignion, Honza Blaha to name but a few. I learnt many lessons some more difficult than others and mainly on myself.
Throughout my career I was fortunate to ride and train many beautiful horses with success at National level, but by far the greatest opportunity was purchasing IceBlue Valentino with Gloria Price and Jennifer Long.
He helped me achieve my goal of training a horse from the nothing to Grand Prix. After a difficult start to his ridden life in Holland and failing as a show jumper, his confidence and trust was gone, but he had something special and I felt he was the one to join our team and although at times not easy, I have loved every minute of it. Now at 20 years old, he is king of the yard and everyone’s favourite, he is still competing and training better than ever.
I feel privileged to have this wealth of knowledge and experience to share with my students. Even though I still love to go out and compete my main passion is training and educating riders from all levels both with ridden and in-hand work, watching them achieve their goals is so rewarding.
LM Saddle has been a vital part of my journey over the last 15 plus years, first working with Lavinia Mitchell and now with Jemma Aigner.
Being part of the process and design has allowed me to test ride and give feedback on many different saddles to help improved the final design from the perspective of a competitive rider and trainer allowing for a truly revolutionary design for not only the horse but the rider as well.
Coming from a non-horsey family, my parent’s thought horses were just a phase and I’d eventually grown out of it, but how wrong they were!
On leaving school I attended Hartpury College, and this is where my love for dressage was ignited. I used to skip lessons and sneak into the indoor arena to watch Carl Hester teach as a guest coach and I was hooked.
Fortunately, I went on to compete one of the Hartpury College horses, allowing me the opportunity to have regular lessons with Carl, and get my first real taste for the sport.
On leaving College, I was offered a full-time position at Abbey Dressage under the tutelage of Glenys Hemming. Here I furthered my knowledge having training again with Carl, Charlotte Dujardin, Spencer Wilton, David Trott and was given the opportunity to eventually compete up to Prix St George level, winning both Regional and National titles.
I love coaching people and as well as being a qualified British Dressage Accredited UKCC Level 3 Coach, Youth Assessors and British Dressage Youth Coach. I am also part of the faculty team for the National Development Program for Coaching Excellence – helping to train the trainers of the future.
In 2019 I completed the APEC (Advanced Psychology for Equestrian Coaches) Advanced program becoming a Centre10 Advanced Coach and in 2020 I attended ‘The Coaches Role; creating rider symmetry to improve performance’.
A course created by the renowned Physio Andy Thomas who provides a unique insight into the management of the human equestrian athlete by using his own TESTT system for assessing imbalances and weaknesses in equestrian riders.
I then joined forces with Mark Walters in 2021 to create Corvedale Equestrian – offering training and education to all levels of horse and rider.
Competing at national level and with a string of up-and-coming horses saddling is such an important part of keeping all our horses happy and healthy, allowing them to perform at their best weather that be at Elementary or GP level.
All our horses are ridden and competed in LM Saddles. Due to versatility of the shimming and pad system, you can tweak the saddle to give the horse optimum performance and movement depending on their fitness, condition and time of year.
A little bit about Corvedale Equestrian -
With over 50 years of industry experience combined, we have found what we believe is a perfect alchemy of lifestyle, training and fun.
Corvedale Equestrian is not only a livery yard and training facility it also boasts a members Equestrian Club. Designed for equestrian enthusiasts of all ages and abilities. It has created a community where high-quality affordable training is available to help all people grow and improve in their chosen areas.
Running monthly training and residential camps throughout the year, as well as many demo and educational days Corvedale definably offer something for everyone.
“Whether it's refining your competition horse, confidence building, or basic horsemanship skills, we have events and training for you”
Mark Walters
I discovered I had the horse bug at 9 when my mum got a Cob cross Arab called Ted. By age 11 I had my first wild Arabian and my mum's three year old Cob x couldn't be controlled by any bit on the market.
We went to our first natural horsemanship clinic and got completely hooked.
This led to us attending, or hosting a horsemanship clinic or three every year of my adolescents.
At age 16 I went to natural horsemanship "collage" studying under my instructor in Australia, learning the art of teaching horses and humans to understand each other, and develop Fundamental skills.
After this I was privileged enough to study in the USA and start teaching at training horses at the age of 19.
Now in my early 30's I still study and teach horsemanship, throughout my travels I've had the joy of learning the basics of driving, western riding and since being back in the UK eventing too.
Now my 6 wonder horses, my partner Zoë and I continue to help people and horses create lasting bonds through understanding each other.
Jamie and Zoë run 'Develop Your Horse' from their base at Bishops Stortford where their mission is to demystify quine psychology to help people reach their goals.
"As founder of Think Like a Pony, I have long been passionate about raising the level of education around horses, to ensure that horse owners are empowered, informed and aware. I have seen countless times how following a holistic approach can have a life changing impact for horses and their owners. I have been the lead trainer at our child-centric horsemanship centre in Leeds for over a decade, and have re-trained and rehabilitated many horses and ponies. 14 of these ponies are our pony team at the centre, who all came to us with behavioural problems and serious health issues. They are now all child ridden ponies, working as part of our holistic riding school and working with vulnerable children through our youth development programme. These ponies all wear LM Saddles and their remedial saddle fitting consultations have been key to their recovery and well-being.
Jemma often jokes that I am the ‘OG LM Consultant!’ I am certainly proud to say that I have been a great supporter from the beginning. The ethos of the organisation very much aligns with the ethos of Think Like a Pony, and its innovative saddle designs and concepts are second to none."
"If you have followed the Think Like a Pony journey, you may know me best from my time training with the founder, Lynn Henry, and helping her to develop a flagship horsemanship centre in Leeds, as well as the Think Like a Pony online club. The 15 years I have spent training with Lynn and working alongside her have been immense and life changing.
The centre and our online programme, the Think Like a Pony Club, are now thriving. I am thrilled to share that I am now focussing my attention on sharing our unique and innovative concept with a wider audience, as well as freelancing throughout the UK to deliver Think Like a Pony horsemanship sessions.
As a freelance instructor who is passionate about following a holistic approach to the horse, empowering owners to understand the importance of correct saddle fit is a huge part of my role. At Think Like a Pony, we have worked closely with LM saddles for many years as we love the innovative saddle design and fit, and so I am thrilled to become a Brand Ambassador of LM saddles!
Working together, we have such a great opportunity to improve the welfare of ponies by ensuring even the smallest child pony’s needs are met through the correct saddle fit."
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